More African Swine Fever confirmed in Poland

African Swine Fever (ASF) appears to stay for a while in Poland, as the country has officially communicated four new cases in its wild boar population.

This information was shared today with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) by Dr Krzysztof Jazdzewski, deputy chief veterinary officer, of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The four dead animals were found in Podlaskie province, Sokólski county, sub-district Krynki, in the far East of Poland, very close to the border with Belarus. One animal was found near Rudaki on May 22, the three others near Sokólski Losiniany, on May 30. These locations are very close to the places where two earlier infected wild boars were found in February.

Laboratory tests using real-time PCR techniques confirmed it was African Swine Fever. The entire zone is under permanent surveillance for ASF outbreaks.

Without being able to prove it, the Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor already claimed recently that more cases of African Swine Fever had been found in Poland.